I have to say, I'm normally a hater on the NC area. But hanging out in Durham/Chapel Hill/surrounding area made me badly want to stay. Between the friendly people and good food. And I actually had an easy time finding things to do when I was not in the convention. (like nice small bookstores, a comic shop, thrift stores, staring at nice city)

12 pounds is making me laugh! I already have 3 or 4 bags in my freezer.

The Fiction Kitchen is officially open for dinner now but I feel kind of annoyed that they don't take reservations. I feel like it's going to be a madhouse for the first few weeks at least. but maybe I am overestimating Raleigh's demand for a vegetarian restaurant.

Woo! Wait - do you ever go to Raleigh? I never ever go to Durham. It's so farrrrr *whine* :D (I'm in Fayettehell)

I will let you know next time I'm going to be in Raleigh!

We went to Fiction Kitchen today. Definitely one of the best meals I've had in the area. I had the pulled 'pork' and mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. The barbecue sauce was awesome, as were the mashed potatoes--the potatoes were mashed, but then formed into this big hockey puck shaped thing and panfried and sprinkled with seasoning. Yum. The seasonal veggies were pretty good, but not super unique. My father had the tacos and really liked them. We had the spring rolls as an appetizer. They were good (and the peanut sauce was GREAT), but also the kind of thing I feel like I could have made at home.

We arrived around 5:10. There was a 30 minute wait for tables at that point, but we managed to get 2 seats at the bar in 10 minutes or so. Food was served pretty quickly. Beer was cold. All the non-vegan items on the menu had obvious vegan subs, and nothing on the menu couldn't be made vegan. I think there was one appetizer and one salad where you could choose between dairy or cashew cheese, and everything else was automatically vegan. I'm 100% sure I'll eat there again!

Also: I went to Earth Fare and apparently they sell Match Meat? I bought the Italian sausage and am super super excited to try it. They also had jarred vegan vodka sauce and Italian sausage marinara. I didn't buy them because I am cheap/poor, but I am now wishing I had.

OMG, the wait times are long. The first time we ever went (on the first Friday they were open, to be fair), he said it would be 45 minutes. We waited nearly two and a half hours to be seated and killed a whole bottle of wine between two people plus an extra glass a piece. So, very, very drunk. We had to leave and get something to eat.

The first time we ate there was on a week night at 5:30 pm. We were seated immediately. I had the pulled pork and my boyfriend had to braised tempeh in pesto grits. Both were excellent, but I liked the pork more because of the fried mashed potatoes, plus its just so darn good.

The second time we ate there I had the market plate which was a lentil curry with breaded and fried shitakke mushrooms at the time and my boyfriend had the chicken and waffles. I do not recommend the chicken and waffles. I'm not familiar with this dish's non-vegan counterpart, but it was incredibly dry. I thought it would come with gravy instead of syrup, but syrup it was and very very little of it (which I prefer, because it's syrup, but I would have rather had some moisture to the dish). Plus the greens on the side was the scantest serving I've ever seen. About the size of a half dollar coin. They're greens not gold; don't be so skimpy. The market plate of the night was ok. It needed salt, but otherwise had a good concept.

Overall, I really like what they are doing. I got much better service sitting at the bar than sitting at a table, so I recommend that, even though the slots are first come, first serve at the bar. They're still working out the kinks, but I'm confident they'll make it through and be the best vegan restaurant in the Triangle.

BTW: all the food I listed is vegan, even if I didn't indicate it.

Edited to add: I'm going back tonight. We've resolved to eat everything on the menu once before settling into a favorite, so I'll report back with two different dishes.

OMG, the wait times are long. The first time we ever went (on the first Friday they were open, to be fair), he said it would be 45 minutes. We waited nearly two and a half hours to be seated and killed a whole bottle of wine between two people plus an extra glass a piece. So, very, very drunk. We had to leave and get something to eat.

The first time we ate there was on a week night at 5:30 pm. We were seated immediately. I had the pulled pork and my boyfriend had to braised tempeh in pesto grits. Both were excellent, but I liked the pork more because of the fried mashed potatoes, plus its just so darn good.

The second time we ate there I had the market plate which was a lentil curry with breaded and fried shitakke mushrooms at the time and my boyfriend had the chicken and waffles. I do not recommend the chicken and waffles. I'm not familiar with this dish's non-vegan counterpart, but it was incredibly dry. I thought it would come with gravy instead of syrup, but syrup it was and very very little of it (which I prefer, because it's syrup, but I would have rather had some moisture to the dish). Plus the greens on the side was the scantest serving I've ever seen. About the size of a half dollar coin. They're greens not gold; don't be so skimpy. The market plate of the night was ok. It needed salt, but otherwise had a good concept.

Overall, I really like what they are doing. I got much better service sitting at the bar than sitting at a table, so I recommend that, even though the slots are first come, first serve at the bar. They're still working out the kinks, but I'm confident they'll make it through and be the best vegan restaurant in the Triangle.

BTW: all the food I listed is vegan, even if I didn't indicate it.

Edited to add: I'm going back tonight. We've resolved to eat everything on the menu once before settling into a favorite, so I'll report back with two different dishes.

I forgot to mention the appetizer (Spring rolls) and the soup (split pea). The app was excellent, especially the peanut sauce, which I ate with a spoon after we were out of rolls. It's a small portion though. There are only 4 rolls, which is actually 2 cut in half. Fine by me, because there were only two of us, but maybe disappointing in a bigger party.

The soup was THE BEST. I love me some split pea soup anyway, but this was topped with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and cashew cream. I'm in love.

OMG, the wait times are long. The first time we ever went (on the first Friday they were open, to be fair), he said it would be 45 minutes. We waited nearly two and a half hours to be seated and killed a whole bottle of wine between two people plus an extra glass a piece. So, very, very drunk. We had to leave and get something to eat.

The first time we ate there was on a week night at 5:30 pm. We were seated immediately. I had the pulled pork and my boyfriend had to braised tempeh in pesto grits. Both were excellent, but I liked the pork more because of the fried mashed potatoes, plus its just so darn good.

The second time we ate there I had the market plate which was a lentil curry with breaded and fried shitakke mushrooms at the time and my boyfriend had the chicken and waffles. I do not recommend the chicken and waffles. I'm not familiar with this dish's non-vegan counterpart, but it was incredibly dry. I thought it would come with gravy instead of syrup, but syrup it was and very very little of it (which I prefer, because it's syrup, but I would have rather had some moisture to the dish). Plus the greens on the side was the scantest serving I've ever seen. About the size of a half dollar coin. They're greens not gold; don't be so skimpy. The market plate of the night was ok. It needed salt, but otherwise had a good concept.

Overall, I really like what they are doing. I got much better service sitting at the bar than sitting at a table, so I recommend that, even though the slots are first come, first serve at the bar. They're still working out the kinks, but I'm confident they'll make it through and be the best vegan restaurant in the Triangle.

BTW: all the food I listed is vegan, even if I didn't indicate it.

Edited to add: I'm going back tonight. We've resolved to eat everything on the menu once before settling into a favorite, so I'll report back with two different dishes.

I forgot to mention the appetizer (Spring rolls) and the soup (split pea). The app was excellent, especially the peanut sauce, which I ate with a spoon after we were out of rolls. It's a small portion though. There are only 4 rolls, which is actually 2 cut in half. Fine by me, because there were only two of us, but maybe disappointing in a bigger party.

The soup was THE BEST. I love me some split pea soup anyway, but this was topped with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and cashew cream. I'm in love.

Boyfriend got the BBQ again because it's just that awesome. The soup was cremini and lentils. Very good. I had the Tinga Tacos. Holy cow were they good. They came with a side of black beans mixed with quinoa that were just about the best black beans I've ever had. The tacos were also delicious.

I need help! A friend and me will be going to Raleigh-area in a couple weeks. We will be staying in the northern part (just north of the main freeway I see going around Raleigh - 440).

Happy Cow shows some veggie/friendly places and sometimes we won't have a lot of time to drive too far. HappyCow only shows 1 restaurant quasi near where we will be and that is Spring Rolls. Sunflower's also looks pretty accessible from where we will be. I don't know though, for lunch, we have an hour break so need something quick (I'll check for Chipotle or something) but dinner has 2 hours so can drive to some place that is veg friendly. If a place is open late (after 8-9), then we might be able to go as well.

My friend isn't vegetarian but she is very open and we have eaten at vegan restaurants before and she loved them.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Are you staying at North Hills? There is a new place over there called Yard House that has a lot of dishes with gardein. Their online menu says they cannot ensure cross contamination with animal products but that's probably just for legal reasons. Right across from there also is a Zoe's Kitchen, which has good vegan options (it's fast-ish food on the level of a Chipotle type place, but with mediterranean food). I get the pita & hummus salad plate without cheese and add a side of white beans, which are completely delicious.

Toward downtown, we have a Mellow Mushroom pizza place that has Daiya. The Fiction Kitchen you have seen us talk about on this thread is also downtown, 100% vegetarian and mostly vegan. Remedy Diner is an omni place but they do great vegan food.

Thanks! Based on the map, it may be either Brentwood or North Hills. I would've never guessed the Yard House having vegan stuff, I probably went to one for a work luncheon 15 years ago or so (I wasn't vegetarian or vegan at the time). It definitely looks like a good option.

I like Mellow Mushroom a lot and I'm ok with Daiya sometimes so I'll definitely keep that on the list. And Fiction Kitchen and Remedy Diner both look interesting as well.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

I just remembered too - Shaba Shabu is a thai & sushi place right inside the beltline on Wake Forest Road that has tons of veggie rolls. That's where I always go for sushi. I asked once and they confirmed their tempura is vegan.

I can tell I've been absent from the boards for a while or I would have known about Fiction Kitchen before now. I can walk there from work and just found out about it yesterday. Will have to check it out soon.

I wanted to report back. The Remedy Diner was excellent and we went twice. Although during Sunday brunch, I don't think we weren't treated that well by the host in terms of seating (seemed others that showed up later got seats ahead of us). I wasn't impressed by the food at Spring Rolls and the lunch specials only had 1 vegan food special and they wouldn't substitute for a similar gluten/seitan item. Papa Razzi was awesome though and nice to see an Italian Restaurant with a separate vegetarian menu. We also went to various coffee shops and soy milk wasn't a problem.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

We went to Fiction Kitchen again! I repeated the pulled pork because yum, and boyfriend had chicken and waffles, which he thought was good. I just had a little piece of the chicken--it was good and an excellent mix of sweet and salty, but I vote for maple syrup on top rather than agave.

We also had tasty beers and split a slice of cheesecake. Showed up around 5pm and got a table right away, but things filled up pretty steadily while we were there. There might have been one open table left by the time we were done eating.

I went to 518 West on Saturday night for my class reunion and they were super helpful. I got salad, a pasta/veggie dish and sorbet for dessert - all vegan, xgfx and soy-free. I especially liked that it just didn't seem like any big deal. They knew just what to do and didn't make it obvious to the people sitting around me.